101 of the very best insurance marketing and prospecting tips, Pt. 4

By Lew Nason

Insurance Pro Shop

Here’s the final 11 (out of 101) insurance marketing and prospecting tips, ideas and advice we've learned over the past 30 years by working with the very best people in and out of the insurance and financial services industry. These 11 tips are from the top experts in marketing. Take their wisdom to heart and you’ll never have to struggle to have enough people to see.

Again, it's important to remember that your message has to be focused on helping people to identify and solve their financial problems. It’s not about you, your credentials, your great products or your great sales idea. It’s about how you can help them to spend, save, invest, insure and plan wisely for the future in order to achieve financial independence.

Here is the advice straight from the experts:

90. The more you sweat in training, the less you'll bleed in battle. Too many salespeople are not only bleeding in the "battle" to sell their customers, they're hemorrhaging. Refine your skills in private and you'll have more victories in public. There are no shortcuts. Training is not glamorous or overly exciting. It doesn't work overnight. But it does work. Choose the pain of daily training and skill development or the pain of losing more deals. Pick one or the other. There is no third choice. — Dave Anderson, author of "Selling Above The Crowd"

91. The most common mistake newcomers to any field of business make is to think that by expanding their portfolio they will "secure" more business, and nothing can be further from the truth. The truth, however, is that specializing and narrowing your focus as much as possible will increase the likelihood of you getting more business. An accountant specializing in car dealerships will get more business than a general accountant will. An advertising consultant specializing in print media for home furnishing stores will get more business than a typical advertising agent will. A photographer specializing in weddings will get more business than a regular photographer will. And the list goes on and on. — Dr. Michel Fortin

92. In marketing, I've seen only one strategy that can't miss — and that is to market to your best customers first, your best prospects second and the rest of the world last. — John Romero

93. For a business not to advertise is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing but no one else does. — Stuart H. Britt, U.S. advertising consultant

94. You can have brilliant ideas, but if you cannot get them across, your ideas will not get you anywhere. — Lee Iacocca, former Chrysler CEO

95. A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well. — Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com
96. Your premium brand had better be delivering something special, or it's not going to get the business. — Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway

99. The purest treasure mortal times can afford is a spotless reputation. — William Shakespeare, English dramatist

100. Next to doing the right thing, the most important thing is to let people know you are doing the right thing. — John Rockefeller

101. It is time in the insurance/investment business for advisors to stop focusing on making money for themselves and start focusing on the client. Selling is simple, if you do the right thing for all of your clients. If you focus completely on helping a client without worrying about the commissions, you will build your practice better. — John Gotschall, CLU, Coaching Financial Concepts, Inc.

Prospecting is a series of continuous, planned actions. It's not just one thing, it's a complete system — a system that you need to develop in order to minimize expenses and maximize your sales and income, to guarantee your long-term success.